


living in the ruins of absence

by average_lasagna



Series: the kids aren't alright [1]
Category: The Hollow (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:22:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26021869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/average_lasagna/pseuds/average_lasagna
Summary: a short fic about living powerless in Hollow Life
Relationships: Adam & Kai & Mira & Vanessa & Reeve & Skeet (The Hollow), Adam & Kai & Mira & Vanessa & Reeve (The Hollow), Adam & Kai & Mira (The Hollow)
Series: the kids aren't alright [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888705
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	living in the ruins of absence

**Author's Note:**

> title adapted from The Heart and Other Monsters by Rose Andersen

Sometimes, Mira stays just a minute too long under the surface of the pool to feel her lungs burn. She stares at the birds that settle in her backyard. Their words slip off her tongue before she can stop them, and she flinches when they fly away.

When Adam’s parents ask why he bandaged his hand, he brushes them off. Bruises map his sides; scrapes cover his elbows and knees. He used to be able to swing from branch to branch, to jump extraordinary heights, to fight as he had never been able to. He misses and hits the ground hard, now. He makes a pile of his wordless books and shoves them under his bed.

In the dead of night, Vanessa climbs onto her roof. She remembers what the air sounded like as it whipped around her ears. She scratches the Hollow’s logo, white and jagged lines, into every tile she can reach. She wonders if the moon would still glitch if she flew into it.

Reeve cracks his knuckles when he’s nervous and startles at the mirror when his reflection’s eyes don’t glow. Instead of dodging, he wills things around him to change like they used to. The ball hits him every time.

Kai waits for someone to comment on the matches he keeps in his pockets. If he’s quick and showy enough, it almost looks like the fire comes from his own fingertips. On bad days, he itches like someone set him aflame, like an ache has seeped into his skin, and he has no hope to soothe it. He stands too close to the stove.

They hide the way their hands shake. When their parents ask if they’re alright, they smile and laugh because they’re cheerful, because they’re happy, because they’re kids without a care in the world.

In a sunny patch at the back of Kai’s garden, they leave flowers for Skeet, and they don’t talk about it.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr: rusty-pulley-stars  
> my hollow blog: s2-hollow-world


End file.
